Current state of the Lakota / King's Mills School districts?

[cincyohguy]

Originally Posted by oldweasel

Thank you for that wonderful explanation!

So from my interpretation, based on the possibility of levies not passing, the order of the districts with the worst issues are as follows:

1) Little Miami
2) Lakota / West Chester
3) Mason

Where would Kings fit into this list?

I.E. - knowing what we do about the massive influx these areas are receiving, where would you send your kids?

Again, thanks in advance!

All are truly great districts, it has just been so hard because of the economy. Mason has the best reputation for passing levies and the facilities there are amazing, but the graduating class sizes are huge( upwards of 1000 ). I don't ever recall Mason not passing a levy, and in my opinion, the Mason community will easily pass any levy without question. I would put Kings up with Mason, though the Kings district has already passed their levy by a huge margin(by close to 60/40, which is pretty amazing and says a lot about the community in this economy). I imagine Mason would do the same. Choosing from the list above, I would definitely send my kids to Mason or Kings.

[progmac]

ohio funding is so messed up - it has been declared unconstitutional multiple times - it will be better for the long run health of the state if these levies keep failing. this will mean that even the monied have trouble funding schools and lead to the wholesale change we need

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by progmac

ohio funding is so messed up - it has been declared unconstitutional multiple times - it will be better for the long run health of the state if these levies keep failing. this will mean that even the monied have trouble funding schools and lead to the wholesale change we need

I fully understand the Ohio method of school funding, based on local property taxes has been declared unconstitutional many times. But nothing has really changed. As I understand it the unconsitutional part is those districts which are willing to vote in the levies and pay the taxes get the schools. Those who can't or won't get the poor schools. But what I don't understand is what the proposed replacement? A state-wide tax system paid out strictly in proportion to population? And just how will this lower costs?

Kings got their levy passed. I believe this is due to the fact their growth has slowed down for a number of years now, as evidenced by the class sizes.

[shyspider]

Oldweasel, just a quick note - You mentioned in your other thread that you were considering a move to Fairfield. I was reading in the paper this morning that one of the criteria used to rate schools shows that the Fairfield School District has recently been bumped up to the highest level in state ratings, which is "Excellent with Distinction". Both Kings and Mason used to hold that top rating, but the same criteria has now dropped those districts to "Excellent", which is one notch below the top rating. Obviously there are fluctuations within each district, as the high school may hold a lower rating than an elementary school. But Fairfield's elementarys are listed as Excellent with Distinction, or Excellent. Mason and Kings still have an overall higher Performance Index, but I just wanted to show you that there are other excellent districts out there. So you may want to keep that in mind, and reconsider looking at Fairfield again. Fairfield has many great rentals, as well as nice homes, that would be more affordable for you than either Liberty, West Chester OR Mason.

[Chemistry_Guy]

In the short term, I think the schools are fine, despite what the administrators would have you believe. The high school teachers in particular are top notch. I think the funding problem may start to hurt the district down the road when the existing teachers retire and the schools are not able to attract the next generation of great educators.